Top 10 table tennis tips

Every player whether professional or newbie can do with quality table tennis tips once in a while.

Some of this tips are something you may already know , however , they serve as reminders which would go a long way in keeping you at the top of your game.

Here are top ping pong tips to make you a better player :

1). Never stray from the Basics :

It’s quite common for players to get frustrated during a game and keep smashing their shots to the center of their opponents’ table in anger. In such scenario, in a brief moment of clarity, you should remember to place simple conservative shots at the corners instead of firing away into his/her comfort.

So, what are the basics?

Make sure you always use a proper grip to prevent your shots from being misplaced, or even worse, having the ball hit your carelessly placed thumb.

Always maintain a good ready position. Some players try to be clever by leaning towards one side of the table, expecting their opponent to stretch them out. While this technique may work sometimes , you could be at disadvantage if your opponent is very experienced.

2). Make Good Use Of Your Racket :

It is normal to have a connection with your paddle because in every game, it becomes an extension of your arm. This connection synchronizes you with the paddle and increases your control over every stroke of the ball.

Every paddle has its own feel; a little warmth you feel in your palms when you wield it. It’s the same effect as having an identical footwear with someone else. If you put on the wrong one, you’ll get a strange feeling about it.

For this reason, it is helpful to have more than one paddle on you whenever you’re participating in a game. Both paddles may not have the same playing characteristics or feel on your hands, but you would have adapted to the game play of each of the paddles.

3). Join a Tennis Club

For significant improvement, you need to test your skill level against various opponents, and the easiest way to do that is to join a club and play as often as possible. Apart from competitive advantage , you can also make friends, find a like minded player and make a training commitment to each other.

You can play tournaments amongst yourselves occasionally, and then also compete with other players of higher skill levels when you feel you’re up to it.

Most clubs have coaches that can help speed up your progress by giving you professional pointers to improving your game. These coaches can also get you into other competitions outside your club to increase your experience and raise your confidence. This is not exclusive to professional aspirants only. To find a club in your area, contact USA Table tennis on their official website.

4). Practice Consistently :

Consistence is the key.

Knowing these tips isn’t going to be enough. You need to turn these words into action and be consistent in your practice. Simply put, when you practice more often, you’ll get better. There’s no easier way of saying this. Whatever you do, make sure you do it as often as possible in order to get impressive results.

Even if you’re not aiming to be a professional, you can make a hobby out of it. Use it as a reference point for thinking when you’re about to make important decisions, or when you need to relax and get your head straight. Ping Pong a stress-free sport, so these adoptions should not cost you your convenience as much as other extremely sweaty sports would.

5). Use shorter swings :

You need to understand that the power from a shot doesn’t come from the length of your swing. You’re literally hitting a light ball across a small table. How far does your hand really need to go?

By keeping your swings short, you get to conserve energy and have more control in your playing time. Shorter swings also help you recover quickly to your original position and get ready for another shot.

Using this for both backhand and forehand will increase the accuracy and precision of your shot. It will preserve the quality of your shot and keep your spins and loops as effective as you intend.

6). Always know what spin your opponent put on the ball :

During play, you need to know exactly what spin your opponent has imposed on the ball so that you can respond with one that at least balances it up. If your opponent strikes the ball with a spin and you respond plainly, your shot will be misplaced.

To know this, you need to watch the paddle movement of your opponent when he/she strikes the ball. Up to down movement is a top spin, down to up is a backspin, left to right is a right side spin and right to left is left side spin.

To be this observant, you need to return to your original position after each strike, almost before it gets to your opponent. Also, you need to minimize your effort on each ball by using short and conservative swings.

7). Provide a standard compensation for your opponents’ spin with the right paddle angle :

As mentioned earlier, you need to be observant enough to know the kind of spin your opponent has put on the ball. For top spins, your contact with the ball needs to be from above the center of your paddle. For back spins, your paddle must contact the ball just below the center, depending on how potent you want your return spin to be.

For right side spins, let your racket contact the ball from the left of its mid line, towards the opposite side, and for left side spins, from the right of its mid line, in the opposite direction.

Note, this doesn’t just happen plainly. You have to develop a feel for the ball before striking it at all and when you do, apply a soft forward strike to maintain control. You also need to decide whether you want to neutralize it or return it with a more complicated spin.

Whichever you choose, you must be ready for whatever comes next by getting back into a ready position, as usual.

8). Keep the height of your returns just over the net :

Unless you plan on lobbing your shot to taunt your opponent, make sure that the height of your return stroke is close to the top of the net. If it’s too high, you’re opening yourself up for a hard smash which you might not recover from easily.

The lower the height, the less the chances of your opponent hitting the ball with a powerful stroke.

If at all you plan to lob the shot, make sure you place it in a rather inconvenient position for your opponent. The basic corner delivery could work here, and make sure that the ball lands at the end of the table.

9). Use different serves :

The easiest way to lose a game is to be predictable. This is very applicable to your serves. If you have one major serve type, your opponent might figure it out after the first few serves and return the next with fatal strokes.

For this reason, you have to mix the length and spin of your serves. Let every serve have different length and spins in order to keep him/her from predicting your next move. To master this, you have to put in a lot of time to practice other serves and get good at them. Weak serves are just as bad as weak return shots.

10). Keep calm :

You need to control you temper while playing. Most players get frustrated and angry when the match point is delicate, or when the opponent returns the strokes like a telepathic Ping-Pong machine. Tempers just reduce your control on the ball and diminish the effect of your skills during play.

No matter how much difference is between the match points, just keep calm and have a good game. If you’re not calm, there’s a huge chance that all your shots will be directed to the center of your opponent’s side of the table or even worse, beyond it.

Before every serve, you are allotted enough time to calm down and think of your next moves. Use this period to take a deep breath and get your head back into the game.